PACKAGING   |   POSTED ON 11.08.2014

Evian Natural Spring Water debuted their new bottle in North America – the first in this millenium! – as they look to reinvigorate their image and win back market share in the premium water category.

Attempting to create new connections with their US consumers within premium water, the new 500ml Evian bottle design is sleeker and cleaner. The bottle is a simple cylinder shape with bevelled mountain ridges evoking the clarity of the water’s source in the French Alps and Evian-Les-Bian. The logo is simplified, elegant and affixed like a sticker, giving it a label-less look.

Evian entered the U.S. market in 1978 and for many years was synonymous with premium water. In recent years, however, it has lost market share with the rise of new players such as Smartwater and Fiji, which come in rectangular bottles.

Last year, Evian’s sales volume rose just 0.4 percent, compared with a 19 per cent increase for Smartwater and a 4 per cent increase for Fiji, according to Beverage Digest. And its market share was just 0.3 per cent of the bottled water category, down from 1.2 per cent a decade earlier.

Eric O’Toole, president of Danone Waters North America, noted that Evian’s contoured bottle was original when it first arrived in the U.S. but the trend now is shifting toward cleaner lines. “We realised that our bottle had become a little bit old and dated.”

All companies, no matter how big or small, are confronted with a fast moving marketplace. Business these days need to be nimble, adapt to the changing market and refresh their brand if their audience is dictating this. Will Evian’s bottle design change be enough to improve sales?